Some that come to mind are:

Benchmade - knives Darn Tough - socks Carhartt - good work gear Doc martens - footwear

What are some good reputable brands that you have had for 5 years + with little to no issues or with a lifetime warranty.

  • @Sterile_Technique
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    8 months ago

    I was Air Force, so no idea if our rain gear was comparable to the Army poncho. Ours didn’t strike me as anything special, but then again the one I was issued was several sizes too large, so I kinda hated that thing by default.

    The best military surplus stores are going to be the ones near military bases - they have constant stream of new inventory coming in from folks who separate and want to make a quick buck pawning off their issued shit.

    And while there are definitely a few gems among military inventory, don’t make the mistake of thinking military = high quality or even high durability. To the contrary, most of it’s the result of bidding wars for a government contract, resulting in the absolute cheapest shit available.

    Idr the brand, but sticking with the boots example, the ones I was issued in basic training barely made it to the end of basic training. Those things were absolute trash.

    • @[email protected]
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      18 months ago

      The poncho liner is often referred to as a woobie if you know that name. Afaik the “on brand” ones are made by the blind kids. Something something school for the blind or whatever it is.

      • @Sterile_Technique
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        18 months ago

        I’m actually having a hard time finding a shot the ABU rain gear liner that I was issued… closest I’m seeing is the pic below, but that thing actually looks decent.

        Ours was a material that looked similar to that, but shaped more like a vest - nothing went over our arms. It was completely nonfunctional outside of the actual raincoat shell though - you couldn’t just wear like a vest or put it under the ABU top for a little extra warmth. It was cut in a way that it’d just fall off without being buttoned into the shell.

        …I wonder if there was some supply issue, and the ones we were issued were a shitty backup. /shrug.

        • @[email protected]
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          18 months ago

          The woobies basically look like a blanket made out of that material with paracord to tie the ends to the poncho.